Newcastle United are aiming to return to Europe for the 2027/28 season, but it's clear that Matthias Jaissle's side are going to have to find a deeper tactical connection over the coming months if that is to happen.
Of course, for the Magpies to have eight points from their opening five Premier League fixtures is promising, to say the least. So much summer upheaval after last year's 12th-place finish might have cast the Magpies into a deeper kind of malaise, but they have rebounded with several exciting summer signings.
Newcastle United manager Matthias Jaissle celebrates their second goal
Newcastle United manager Matthias Jaissle celebrates their second goal
It's been much-needed. After all, Newcastle's strategy took quite the hit when Alexander Isak was sold to Liverpool one year ago.
How Isak became a superstar at Newcastle
At Newcastle, Isak tore the English scene to shreds. The infirmary was his arch-nemesis during his three-year stint at St. James' Park, but one he overcame to leave the likes of Jamie Carragher hailing him as "the best striker in the Premier League" in January 2025, months before he moved to Liverpool.
Scorer of the winning goal in the Carabao Cup final, against Liverpool, in 2025, Isak was responsible for lifting the title aloft with black-and-white ribbons flapping about.
He might have arrived as a ready-made superstar, completing a club-record £60m move from Real Sociedad in Spain in 2022, Howe picking him as his marquee buy to spearhead the new era, but Isak was hardly the finished product when he made the move.
Isak Premier League record
Isak Premier League record
Now, the 26-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best in the business, and though his sale banked Newcastle a staggering sum, it was anything but auspicious for all involved.
Why the Isak sale derailed Howe's Newcastle tenure
Isak has scored four goals from five games in the Premier League this season, but the resurgent Sweden striker left absolutely everything to be desired last term.
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak
Liverpool striker Alexander Isak
In truth, his record-breaking move to Merseyside worked in no party's favour. Barring, maybe, the agents who banked a pretty penny. Isak would score three goals all season, his first few months derailed by a lack of fitness and form, then breaking his leg in December to scupper his chances of making it a successful season at Anfield.
Isak is one of the deadliest strikers in Europe, but he has never been as formidable as he was when Eddie Howe's Newcastle project was firing on all cylinders.
It was a level of performance unlike anything Tyneside has seen since the halcyon days of Alan Shearer at No. 9 in the Premier League.
||
Premier League - Top Scorers since Isak's Debut
Player
Erling Haaland
Mohamed Salah
Ollie Watkins
Alexander Isak
Bryan Mbeumo
This summer's new arrivals are yet to prove they are made of elite attacking material, but there is another who's set to sign in 2027 - and he looks like he could be the real deal.
How Newcastle can find their next Isak
Isak was recognised at Newcastle for his surpassing technical ability. He has always had the mark of a world-class goalscorer, but his skillset is also emphasised by immense speed and power and pace.
Alexander-Isak-Carabao-Cup-trophy
Such elite talents don't come around very often, but the Newcastle hierarchy believe they might have a future superstar of the same quality in Johan Martinez, who has agreed to leave Independiente del Valle in his Ecuadorian homeland and join Newcastle for £2.5m when he turns 18 in 2027.
Bayer Leverkusen are mooted to have been among Newcastle's primary competitors in the race to sign the prodigious teenage talent, who has been hailed as “one of South America’s most exciting prospects” by journalist Rudy Galetti.
Though he is yet to make his professional debut, there is a real buzz around this one, who is set to graduate from Ecuador's famed Independiente del Valle youth system, responsible for the development of the likes of Moises Caicedo, Kendry Paez and William Pacho.
Caicedo-Chelsea
In truth, all of Ecuador's precocious footballing traffic flows through that academy, which certainly bodes well for Martinez, who is a left-footed, direct winger renowned at youth level back home for his versatility and fleet-footedness.
At the U17 CONMEBOL Championship in 2025, he excelled across six matches for his nation, scoring one goal and supplying one assist across three starts. Notably, he won seven duels and completed 2.5 dribbles per game.
This summer, Newcastle exclusively signed players aged 24 and under. It is a new strategy, and one which Martinez feeds into. He is still so young, but the potential is undeniable, and he will be entering an environment built for up-and-coming growth.
That is an absurd output, the kind of physical level which could allow him to grow into a Premier League superstar of the ilk of Isak. The leap is a big one, but there's no question that Newcastle believe they have signed a future sensation.